Boomer

Thanks all. Some good info here.

How are the small crappie jigs made with a hair or marabou tail, but a poured plastic body? I've tried gluing on pieces of plastic worm, but haven't figured out how to get it on over the tail. Only thing I've been able to do is slide a piece of worm over the hook, mash it up against the head, clamp it with a hemostat, and tie in a tail. Works after a fashion, but looks really ugly. Looking closely at the commercial bodies, pretty clear they are poured somehow.

Our annual white bass run is about to start, and the average life expectancy of a jig is less than a half hour. I'm satisfied using Krylon Industrial Enamel. I spay a white base coat, and then the colored topcoat. I have a piece of cardboard that I use as a spray shield and do 20-30 at a time. I've done this for years, and the jigs catch fish as well, or better usually, than the commercially prepared jigs. I also powder coat, that takes too much time for the use that I have.

Ask the shotgun shooters around you if there is a trap range around. They often will sell reclaimed lead shot, which is a pure form of lead. It will be cheaper to use than buying commercially, and handy to use. Usually sold in milk jugs or something similar. Indoor shooting ranges will usually give you their scrap, but it is way dirty with bullet jackets and such, and the lead tends to be hard -- along the line of wheel weights. Also you should melt this lead outside when you clean it, as it is not uncommon to find a loose round in it. Such a round is not really a personal hazard, but it can cause the lead to splash if it goes off.

If I'm making a lot of small jigs, I may do two or three colors and come back the next day. Doesn't seem to make any difference.

I use the "craft glue" that is sold at Wal Mart, and probably other outlets as well. I put just the smallest dab on the back of eyes, and it looks good (dries clear) and holds well. I've used if for both the flat eyes and 3-D eyes.

I use and prefer pure lead for making jigs. It will fill out small jigs much better than something like wheel weights. I've used it up to 3 oz. sinkers and never had any issues about holes. The good soft pure lead is getting hard to find around here.

What you use to flux with is essentially irrelevant, as you are burning it up. Bullet casters even use a piece of bullet lube. Problems with the mold filling correctly are much more likely to be caused by issues with the metal temp, the metal alloy, or the mold temp.

Yep. paper clip works just fine.

I've only done the small ones, but I've always had good luck holding the swivel in a pair of needlenose pliers, dipping, and up to the base of the swivel , then breaking the swivel free before baking.

Babbitt can have a significant amount of copper in it, which sounds like what happened to you. It also will certainly have a fair amount of antimony, which will harden it right up.. If I had x--ray lead, i'd throw the babbitt away (or sell it).

That's about the purest lead that you can get. Lucky you. Take as much as you can. What you can't use you can readily sell.

I've used reclaimed shot before, but not from this source. It depends on what kind of range the shot came from as to whether it is hard or soft. You can probably count on it having about 5% antimony (hard shot). The foreign objects are small (tiny ) rocks that will float like pool toys. Don't worry about this. IMO price is very high and approaching the current price of new shot, which I've also used. Soft shot is nearly pure lead, and I've used it when I needed pure lead.. If you are interesting in using this, check with local, large shotgun (skeet, trap) ranges, as that is the source.

Is there anywhere that I can buy marabou in larger quantities than you find in the catalogs?

That depends on what kind of lead shot you buy."Magnum" or "hard shot" or "premium shot" does have hardening alloys, primarily antimony. It also tends to have more tin than wheel weights and so will flow more easily into molds. "Soft" or "non-magnum" or "dropped" shot is soft lead, and is a reliable source of soft lead when you need that. There are several shotgun applications where soft, easily deformable shot is considered desirable, the most common being the game of skeet. Traditional quail loads featured soft shot, and relied on its deformation to produce wider patterns. If you don't want to buy a whole 25 lb. bag of shot to verify this, go to the nearest Wally World and buy a box of the promotional "Dove and Quail" loads and cut one open. The shot can easily be cut with a pocket knife.

How are the plastic bodies put on small crappie type jigs. I'm talking about the "Hal Fly" type jig.

I've done the samll pony heads and not messed up the swivels I use a heat gun to heat the jigs as I find that it is much more forgivng. On the small jigs you can melt them in a skinny minute with a more intense heat source. What you find out is that the swivel and hook are very good heat sinks and will melt the head from the inside out. I have some cheap long nosed needle nose pliers, grab the swivel by the barrel, heat and dip up to the barrel You can coat the barrel with no ill effect. Hand it up and go on. The coverage on the underside ot the tail section can be a little iffy, but noting to worry about. What I've done if I really have a bad bald spot is reheat the jig, slowly and apply powder paint with a camle hair artists brush to the spot. Usually though I don't worry about it. Takes a little training not to release the pliers. I tried a locking hemostat, but decided it was too much trouble. Even if you get bit of paint on the eye the swivel, you can break it free easily before you bake the paint. As long as the paint is broken free between the barrel and the eye, don't worry about paint on the eye. All in all its not a bad way to paint, as with any liquid paint you have to protect the swivel.

I hate order tail material from catalogs and paying $3.00 for a fingers worth of tail material. A couple of years ago I was walking through K-Mart and had one of those Eureka! moments. A lot of the Christmas stuff that is being shoved out the door is good old mylar. Look especially for the garlands, and some icecicles. Found a bunch of mylar tree trimmings yesterday in some of my favorite colors, pearl white, silver, bright green, and gold --- 5o cents a card for a double handful. Have some garlands that are a green blend that you might almost call motor oil glitter. check it out before they put the stuff away.

Just make sure that you get the pans good and hot before pouring lead, or you will end up with a very unusual boat anchor. Don't ask me how I know.

If you have the patience, and don't need a particular one too fast, you can save a few bucks on eBay. What kills me about eBay sellers though is that there are some that set their reserve prices higher than current catalog through somebody like Cablea's, who is not exactly rock bottom. I guess there are enough people around who make no effort to price shop.

Look at my post under "Lead Question" Soft or "chilled" shot from a reloading supply place should be $14.00-16.-- per 25#, and is just fine. Try to find an indoor gun range, although the lead will be hard and give the same problems as tire weights on smaller stuff. If do get it too work on 1/8 oz. jigs, but ti is problematic on 1/16 and smaller. Have to go to my stash of pure lead.

You might tell us the source of the shot. If it is new shot, it can be "soft" shot, aka "dropped" or "chilled" shot. This is very soft, nearly pure lead, on the order of 98.00% lead. Curiously soft shot has become harder in the last few years because the plants are using more and more recycled lead, and more and more impurities are getting in the metal. For all practical purposes, this can be considered pure lead. and is very useable in the jig making process. If you have to buy lead, chilled shot can be an economical source, as current retail prices are on the order of $14.00 -16.00 per 25 pounds. If you are having trouble with a bait, it has nothing to do with the characteristics of shot. "Hard" shot or "magnum" shot has anywhere from 3-7% antimony to make it harder. it also is suitable for jig making, although it will not flow as will as the soft shot, and may give some difficulties with smaller jigs. You can improve tremendously by adding some sloder, which introduces tin, which improves the flow characteristics. If you are near a large shotgun facility, they may sell recalimed shot, which will predominately hard shot, but cna be a real valure--- on the order of $6-9 a "milk jug". Of course steel shot is available, but it is very expensive and will not melt, so its unlikely you have obtained this. Likewise bismuth shot is availble, will melt readily, but is incredibly expensive. As Markell notes, indoor gun ranges are generally glad to give away their metal. It does have a lot of waste. I use this a lot. I have a big pot outside (old canner) that I just build a big charcoal fire under, melt a batch skim off all the crud, and make ingots with a dipper. If you try to use in small batches without cleaning first it will drive you crazy oicking out the junk. Be cautious, range lead has a lot of very small pieces and dust. I'm not a nervous nelly but I always use rubber gloves and a face mask when handling range lead until I get it melted down. NOTE, range lead will be very hard, on the ordr of wheel weight, due to a high percentage of antimony, and may be difficult to use in small jigs or weights. Again, introducing some solder will help flow characteristics, but lighten final product. If you know of an outdoor range, they will probably have a berm (back stop) and are more than glad for you to go in and glean lead. A blackpowder or cowboy facility will have bullets with the purest lead. FWIW, in the industry, cable sheathing and x-ray plates are considered to be the purest lead commonly available.

While I agree about the disposable brushes, if you are inclined to clean your brushes, lett me suggest white vinegar, as a safer, less toxic, less expensive alternative to acetone.

Love fingernail polish. Best head/thread cement there is. Love the nylon reinforced clear for head final coat. Look in the dollar stores, flea markets for save a buck. Biggest problem is the looks you get shopping for it.

Here's the bad news ---"annealing" lead will only make it harder. This is a technique used by bullet casters to make their lead bullets harder. Been there done that with the pinch on sinkers. There is no way to soften your allow so that it will work acceptably in your sinkers. You have to find some nearly pure lead. This could be plumbers lead from old cast iron pipes, cable sheathing, roof flashing. A wholesaler that caters to commercial plumbers MAY have some lead, although many of them have gotten away from it. If you can't find it anywhere else you can order pure lead from any company that caters to bullet castersl, although it will be pricey. Also if you have a big sporting goods store around that sells reloading supplies, (or a gun range) see if they have "soft shot" or "dropped shot". This is virtually alloy free. Right now the price is not too bad, $12.00-14.00 per 25 lbs. Any amount of antimony, which is present in all wheelweights, other common lead alloys, will make it too hard for split shot.